person, he still had residence. >> the best way to remember john lennon is to be inspired by his optimism. his integrity, his clarity and his love for his family. he was the real deal. nodding off at the wheel. a new york train engineer admit head zoned out moments before that deadly derailment. >> a deadly winter storm dumping piles of snow on parts of the country. millions waking up to arctic temperatures this morning. you know who's tracking all of this for you? indra petersons. >> there she is. taking a look at damage. a celebrity chef in court battling out with two sisters claiming they stole millions from her. we're live in london as the drama unfolds. good morning, everyone, welcome toberman.

>> i'm zoraida sambolin. human error. the man at the helm william rockefeller jr. nodded off and caught himself too late before the wreck. what he said, i was in a daze. and that's a direct quote from him. four people were killed. rockefeller's lawyers calling it a case of highway hypnosis. we get more from nic robertson. >> reporter: the lawyer representing william rockefeller, the train drievgs says that the driver acknowledges he had a lapse of concentration. the highway hypnosis, zoned out when driving the train shortly before hitting that bend. he was doing 82 miles an hour going into a 30-mile-per-hour curve. his lawyer said his client had a good night's sleep.

went to bet at 8:30 in the evening, woke up at 3:30 and got to work at 5:00 a.m. the ntsb saying they have looked at the train, they have found nothing wrong with the signaling that the train was using. and nothing wrong with the brakes on the train. >> we've determined that the metro north mechanical department performed the proper brake test prior to the accident train leaving the station and there were no anomalies noted. based on these data there's no indication that the brake systems were not functioning properly. >> reporter: the more the investigation goes on, the more it does seem this was a result of human error. back to you john and zoraida. >> our thank you, nic robertson for that. we have a major case of winter whiplash. temperature swings of 40 to 70 degrees in major stows. that's major whiplash. major whiplash. the extreme cold is now gripping a lot of country. >> 89-year-old snowfall records,

if you can believe it, have been shattered in north utah, and the snow keeps on falling there. treacherous conditions causing hundreds of wrecks on highways and surface streets. transportation officials are limiting travel there. >> snow also hitting colorado, up to 3 feet of snow in some areas. an avalanche watch is in effect in northern an central mountains in parts of that state. >> wow. so parts of montana experiencing subzero windchills. ouch. it it may feel 20 to 30 below in some areas. montana saw some of the coldest temperatures in single digits at yellowstone park. continuing with the "m"s, minnesota, snow falling up to 2 feet in some areas. left frozen by the arctic air. >> let's get the latest on snow and where it's heading next.

>> system after system continues, really rolls through the country. you can definitely see on the radar, down through colorado still seeing the snow falling and also into the dakotas and minnesota and how much we're expecting throughout the day. it's still a good amount. still over a foot football, if not a foot and a half in the colorado area. also in the midwest week talking about a foot of snow possible in those regions. let's take a look at that actual system. easy to see why. you see the two lows producing the showers. watch what happens as we go forward into tomorrow. notice the pink here. that's the wintry mix. what we're concerned about is the threat for icing. take a look in arkansas. even back through texas, similar to last week. the threat of freezing rain currently is in the forecast. i notice even as we go through thursday night that freezing rain and wintry mix can stretch all the way into the ohio valley. so that's something we're looking at, how much of it can we see? especially when you consider

it's still in the forecast as we go through even friday and another round behind it over the weekend. as far as the numbers, this is something so early in the office. a lost forecast offices, they're varying from each other. keep in mind, we look at a threshold of over a half inch. if you get over a half inch of freezing rain you have the threat of power lines coming down. so that's what they're trying to figure out as we get closer to get an accurate idea. is this what we're talking about, dallas 80, bismarck, 6 degrees is the temperature high. it's only going to get colder. >> colder here, too. >> a lot to look out for. president obama vowing to keep fighting for the health care law, urging americans to focus on the benefits of obama care, despite the barrage of criticism over the rollout of healthcare.gov, that website that had so many problems. >> the bottom line is, this law is working, and will work into the future. people want the financial stability of health insurance. and we're going to keep on

working to fix whatever problems come up in any startup, any launch of a project this big that has an impact on one-sixth of our economy. whatever comes up, we're going to just fix it. >> meanwhile, former president bill clinton says his recent suggestion that president obama keep his word and let people keep their health insurance plans was not aimed, or not trying to distance hills from the president's health care law in an effort to help his wife hillary's potential 2016 presidential bid. >> i said nothing about this. not one word, until the president himself spoke. i don't think you can find anybody in america who's worked harder for his re-election or supported this bill or went out of his way to explain the bill to the american people more than i did. >> so mr. clinton says he does not know whether his wife will run for president. and adds that he would support joe biden as a 2016 presidential

nominee if he got the nomination. he'll support any democratic nomination. notre dame is suing over obama care birth control mandates. they're doing this again. the university filed a fresh lawsuit opposing insurance for student and employees saying it goes against the teachings of catholic church. the affordable care act does make exceptions for religious institutions. so this new lawsuit seeks an expanded exception for schools and universities as well. the house has passed a ten-year extension of the 25-year-old ban on plastic guns that can pass metal detectors and x-ray machines. new york senator charles schumer calls the extension better than nothing, but not by much. he plans to pass a tougher bill on monday, the day the classic gun band is set to expire. vice president joe biden meeting with the chinese prime minister xi jinping.

the vice president spent yesterday in japan, calling on china to drop sovereigncy over the beijing sea. the obama administration says it is prepared to allow iran to engage in a limited nuclear enrichment program. but that applies only to the nation's peaceful energy needs. in a statement released tuesday, the white house says it will negotiate with tehran as long as it holds up its end of the agreement to curtail its nuclear capabilities under tight oversight. this is the first time the u.s. has explicitly said that iran has the right to enrich. yasser arafat was not the victim of poisoning according to tests by french forensic scientists. that contradicts a report. they found he was killed by radioactive polonium.

>> this will not put the conspiracy theorys to rest. eight minutes after the hour. coming up, a celebrity chef in a heated courtroom battle. did two sisters steal millions from thnigella lawson? we're live in london. an incredible rescue. a man trapped for days underwater. >> this sais an amazing video. tweet us the "early start" rhyme if you rhyme with jacoby ellsbury. #morningrhy #morningrhyme. tap of my geico app. oh, that's so cool. well, i would disagree with you but, ah, that would make me a liar. no dude, you're on the jumbotron!

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thanks. what? welcome back to "early start." 12 minutes past the hour. so glad you're with us this morning. the fraud trial of two former assistants tonight nigella lawson and her husband charles saatchi heating up.

front and center, expected to testify against two sisters who allegedly embezzled more than $1 million from her. we're going to get a lot more from erin mclachlan. she's live in london. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, zoraida, that's right. just a short while ago, nigella lawson arrived here in court. she was expressionless to the flash bulbs of the world's media. after all, this has been considered an absolute p.r. disaster for lawson and charles sachi. there have been allegations of drug use, as well as details into the breakdown of their marriage. and neither of them are the ones on trial. the defendants in this case, two sisters, their former personal assist tans, elisabetta and francesca grillo. the prosecution alleges that the two sisters frondly used saatchi

credit cards. charles saatchi was asked questions by the defense from e-mails he sent to lawson in october. in that e-mail he writes of her daily drug use, and he says that he allowed the sisters to spend as they liked. he explained to the court at the time he wrote that e-mail, he was very upset, distraught, heartbroken over the breakdown of their marriage. he was simply speculating to the sisters' defense saying that nigella lawson to his knowledge has never used drugs. we have yet to hear from nigella lawson. she's never responded to any of these allegations. she's expected to testify later today, zoraida. >> what a mess. you started out saying this is a p.r. nightmare for nigella. once this trial is over, what's next for her?

>> reporter: well, once the trial is over, she is expected to appear during the second season of the abc show "the taste." there also has been media reports of a planned tell-all interview to oprah. but her spokesperson tells me that is simply not going to happen. still remains to be seen the long-term effects of some of the allegations that have emerged from this trial. >> erin mclaughlin live in london. it's 15 minutes past the hour. families in newtown of bracing for receipt lease of the 911 calls at the sandy hook mess carry. 20 first graders and six school staffers lost their lives. a judge ruled last week to make those tapes public, affirming a freedom of information request. state attorney s spent months fighting the release.

cleveland captor ariel castro died by his own hands. castro was found hanging in his prison cell after being sentenced to life plus 1,000 year for assaulting three women for a deck cad. it points to all signs as a suicide. but still plenty of questions how he was given the time and space to commit suicide to begin with. >> exactly, when they should have been watching very closely. a montana judge under fire for saying a 14-year-old rape victim looked older than her age. he admits he broke judicial ethics code but 72-year-old g. todd baugh said he could be censored but not removed for his remarks. the judge convicted the man convicted in that race for 30 days in jail. production of "fast & furious" 7 now on hold following the death of paul walker.

the 40-year-old died along with a friend in a fiery crash this weekend. autopsy results are being withheld right now. universal pictures says it will donate some proceeds from the last installment to walker's charities. well, this is a miraculous rescue. it was all caught on tape after a man actually survived three days at the bottom of the atlantic ocean. harrison okene was working when a heavy swell caused the boat to capsize and eventually sank. his 11 colleagues drown. but okene survived for nearly three days after being found by rescue divers. >> what's that. you found one - he's alive! >> okay. keep him there. keep it there. all right. >> all right. just hold him there, keep him there.

>> all right. just keep him there. keep him calm, okay. >> you know why they're so shocked because they were on a recover mission. they did not expect to find anyone alive after three days. okene survived on a single can of soda for three days. this all happened this past june. >> remarkable. i wonder how he kept his hopes up. >> when you look at the video, and you see his face when they found him. he must have been prepared for the worst then there are people, not sharks coming for him. 18 minutes after the hour. two sky divers were killed, witnesses say they were descending with their parachutes collapsed. >> wow, terrible. so, it is official, detroit will become the largest u.s. city ever to file for

bankruptcy. a judge handing down this landmark decision to approve the filing tuesday. so it now clears the way for the motor city to slash an estimates 18 millions in debt. including reducing pensions for city workers. it's quite controversial. many of those workers protested that decision outside of the courthouse tuesday. an impressive move by the legislature. they've approved an enormous plan to the state's shortfall. public unions opposed the bill and promise to take legal action. they argue that the legislation is unfair for retirees and workers who will see their benefits cut because of what they called government mismanagement. >> this battle has been going on for years. unfortunately, something has to happen. if not, it's another detroit. >> it was a mess. >> it is a mess. recent outbreaks of meningitis at princeton and uk santa barbara are troubling

individuals. this is the type of infection for which the united states does not have an approved vaccine. so in a rare move, federal officials are allowing princeton to vaccinate students next week with a drug not yet approved in the united states. "newsweek" is returning to print. "the new york times" says it will begin publishing january or february. readers will pay more than they did in the past. so, remember those google glasses? the person thought to be the first driver to get a ticket for wearing google glass has pleaded not guilty. cecilia abate from san diego is charged with speeding and distracted driving. her defense, there is nothing illegal simply wearing google glass when it was not turned on. but when she looked up at the officer who pulled her over, the glasses were activated. >> it's on. the device is physically on. but it's not active in the

screen. so if i do either these or these, then you can see the screen light up a little bit. >> google glass is not yet on the market. abate is one of 10,000 people chosen to try out the product. >> but not while driving. >> no, that is just not a good idea. 21 minutes after the hour. this is what will be up this morning. a big, big deal. the yankees hoping that money can buy them love. they spend a lot of it on all-star red sox. andy scholes breaks it down. >> are you heartbroken? >> it's a lot of money. coming up on the "bleacher report." ♪ ♪ to help secure retirements and protect financial futures. to help communities recover and rebuild. for companies going from garage to global.

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the new york yankees doing the one thing they know how to do. spend money. and they are spending a lot. >> are you editorializing right now? >> no, they spend a lot. jacoby ellsbury leaving the red sox and going to the team here in new york. andy scholes, give us the details. >> i feel spite if your voice, john. missing the playoffs for the second time in 19 years, you knew that wasn't going to sit well with the yankees. this move has a deja vu move to it of 2005. and the deal the yankees are giving else bury, it's a big one. he's reportedly going to receive a seven-year, $153 million

contract. that's the fourth largest deal in yankees history. and then you know what this mean, ellsbury is going to have to shave that beard because yankees have a no facial hair policy. and it looked like a snoozer. toronto had a 27 point lead. then golden state mounted an epic comeback to outscore the raptors 42-15. they came back to get the win, 112-103, the seventh largest come jk in nba history. did you ever think about inviting your favorite pro athlete to your wedding, just to say they did. and they got a handwritten response. >> the couple posted it online. manning respectively resigned.

and how cool is that, he actually took the time to send a handwritten response. pretty cool deal. >> that is nice. >> congratulations to the young couple. if they wanted something cool at their wedding, tom brady. andy scholes, we have the top headlines. and absolutely everything you need to know. >> absolutely everything? >> absolutely everything. after the break. , they do surround me ♪ ♪ i hope this never ends ♪ and we'll be the best of friends ♪ [ male announcer ] the 2014 chevrolet traverse... all set? all set. [ male announcer ] ...with three rows of spacious seating for up to eight. imagine that. chevrolet. find new roads. waiting for your wrinkle cream to work? neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair has the fastest retinol formula.

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dazed and confused. a new york train engineer admitting he may have been nodding off at the wheel moments

before a deadly derailment. a deadly winter storm plaguing a lot of this country with ice, snow, and arctic temperatures. indra petersons tracking the storm's damage. to tell you how big it is and where it will hit next. and developing overnight, vice president biden in china, trying to stop a war from breaking out. we are live in beijing with the very latest. welcome back to "early start." glad to have you with us. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. the latest on the train derailment in the bronx. investigators seemingly to put the responsibility on the train's engineer. officials saying no mechanical problems found with the train. and a union representative told investigators rockefeller nodded off before it was too late. his lawyer calls it highway hypnosis saying he did get a good night's sleep before the fateful trip. >> you said he was on.

second day of a five-day shift that he had started 5:00 a.m. in the morning. what time did he start the shift prior to starting 5:00 a.m. in the morning. >> i don't know the specific time he finished the shift, but the day was a typical nine-hour day. and these days were routine days. >> so that he would have had sufficient time to get a full night's sleep? >> there's every indication that he would have had time to get full restorative sleep, that's correct. >> he's extreme distraught over it. and he feels for the families. i don't believe that in my opinion, that anybody could ever make billy feel worse than he's making himself feel today. billy feels terrible. whether it was his fault or not his fault. it was his train. >> rockefeller initially said the brakes failed in sunday's crash that killed four people. the train was going 82 miles an hour, heading into a 30-mile-an-hour curve.

so we have wild swings in the weather picture. 40 to 70-degree temperature drops in major cities like denver and little rock. and a deep freeze now gripping much of the country. >> in utah, authorities telling people to stay off the roads. record-breaking snow making travel dangerous. >> nasty. >> hundreds of wrecks reported on highways and surface streets. 89-year-old snowfall record vbs shattered in the northern part of that state. >> colorado also being blasted by snow and really strong winds as were el. to 3 feet of snow in some areas. the fierce conditions have led to an avalanche watch for northern and central mountains. >> following along on the map, montana, bracing for subzero windchills. montana saw the coldest temperatures tuesday with single digits registering in yellowstone national park. >> snow already making for very rough conditions in men mississippi 2 feet already on the ground. as much as another foot headed your way. i'm so sorry. a winter storm warning around

lake superior runs through tonight. and several deadly accidents as well have been reported in that state. so who gets the snow next? you don't have to make a mental note of this or try to follow because indra petersons is track all of this for us this morning. >> i'll do it for you, right? you guys said it minnesota we're still seeing snow at this hour. taking you through colorado, you can actually see the radar showing you that, yes, snow is still falling. how much more are we expected to get, a lot. over a foot in colorado today. still even in minnesota, more snow in your direction and heavy amounts as well. let's take a look at what's actually happening. you see the system continuing to make its way south and east today. here's the thing we're concerned with, especially as we go through tomorrow. this is thursday afternoon. notice the wintry mix, when we see the pink. what we're concerned with part down in the south, will we see the icing. back through texas. the concern here once you get over a half inch of freezing

rain, that's when you talk about trees coming down and power lines coming down. as we go into thursday evening, we're still talking about that wintry mix, even spreading farther up north, most likely sleet. it's back in this section we're really concerned about that freezing rain. still as we go through friday, we still have this threat, the system pushing east with heavy snow. again, still looking at the wintery mix. we talked about the power lines. there's a lot of variance. a lot of weather putting in different amounts of what we think will be out there. we're still not there yet. as we get closer, we'll get a better idea of how much damage potentially this ice storm could bring. look at these temperatures. look at dallas. today at 80, by thursday, 39 degrees. little rock, same thing, 70. down to the freezing mark of 32. two sides of the story. >> wow, that's dramatic in dallas. >> some places 30 to 40 degrees employee average. >> those ice storms can be so disruptive. such a mess to clean up. indra, thank you so much. president obama embarking on

a new health care push. he seed despite the launch of healthcare.gov, americans stand to benefit a great deal from health care. >> the bottom line is, this law is work and will work into the future. people want the financial stability of health insurance. and we're going to keep on working to fix whatever problems come up in any start up, any launch of ail project this big that has an impact on one-sixth of our economy, whatever comes up, whatever comes up, we're going to just fix it. >> meanwhile, former president bill clinton clarifying that promise that he made about president obama should keep their health plans. bill clinton said it was not designed to distance himself from the health care law in effort to help his wife hillary's 2016 presidential ambitions. >> i said nothing about this, not one word, until the president himself spoke.

i don't think you can find anybody in america whose worked harder for his election or supported his bill or went out of the way to explain it to the american people than i did. >> intrigue, still. bill clinton says he does not know whether his wife will run for president and adds he will support joe biden as the 2016 presidential naumle knee if biden were to get the nomination. the university of notre dame has filed another lawsuit. they're opposing a mandate in obama care. the affordable care act does make an exception for religious institutions. so this new lawsuit seeks an expanded exception. they want it for schools and universities as well. we have a developing story out of beijing today, vice president joe biden meeting with chinese leader xi jinping, they have a personal connection already. and this connection could be sorely tested with tensions

running high between the two nations. david mckenzie is monitoring developments live from beijing. david, what's the latest? >> well, john, you're right, the two men certainly do have a personal connection that's gone way back. but vice president in town to pressure the chinese president to defuse tensions between japan, the u.s. and china. it's all around this air defense identification zone which the chinese announced two weeks ago, unilaterally, many people saying this is a dangerous situation because it could lead to accidental flare-up. the vice president is there to try to defuse that and ask china to back down from more of its strident threats. >> the vice president was in japan using incredibly diplomatic language. in some cases walking on eggshells. you have to be so careful and specific here. eye any sign that china is backing off a little bit on what

some saw as of it? >> i think there is a sign of them backing offer.defense ministry saying they don't necessarily have to scramble their jets for any plane, military or otherwise that comes into that area. as you said, joe biden really walking on the tight rope here. trying to push china, but not trying to anger the chinese too much. he did say that china needs to defuse tensions but he didn't say that china needs to scrap this zone altogether. what everybody wants i think in this situation is for tensions to defuse. for everybody to calm down and maybe at some point get to the negotiating table. >> a very, very big trip for the vice president both overseas and domestically as well. david mckenzie is beijing, thank you so much. coming up next, a deadly midair sky diving collision. what went so wrong? we'll tell you all about it when we coming back. you've got our discover it card, so you get your fico® score on your monthly statements now, for free!

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start." everyone, today 911 calls from the sandy hook elementary school shooting will be made public. the connecticut state attorney fought for months to keep these calls private saying they could cause too many anguish. last december a gunman took the lives of 20 children and six staffers. the tapes will be released at 2:00 p.m. cleveland kidnapper ariel castro committed suicide. those are the findings in an official report. he was found hanging in his prison cell in september. an independent review says castro took his own life. he was facing life plus 1,000 years for imprisoning three women for a decade. the studio of "fast & furious" 7 says they're suspended production. autopsy results were completed tuesday and are not being made public as of yet. the latest "fast & furious" film was scheduled for release in

july, no word on how producers will handle walker's death. tragedy in the skies over arizona. two sky divers died after colliding in midair. this is near elloyd, arizona. their canopies collided. the largest bankruptcy in u.s. history will move forward. a judge cleared the way for the city of detroit to get a handle on an estimated $18 billion in debt the judge also saying that could include pension cuts. it's a controversial decision that brought city workersous in protest on tuesday. the landmark ruling could have a wide-ranging impact all around the country, as other troubled cities all looking to cut costs. speaking of that, lawmakers in illinois have approved a plan to eliminate the state's $1 billion pension shortfall. and governor pat quinn says he's going to sign it. of course, public employee unions oppose the bill and they promise to take legal action

now. their argument is the legislation is unfair to workers and retirees who contributed to retirement plans. they will now see their benefits cut because of government mismanagement. the fourth confirmed case of meningitis at the university of california santa barbara. an 18-year-old freshman on the men's lacrosse team has already had both legs amputated. federal officials are allowing that school to vaccinate thousands of students next month using a drug that's not been approved by the united states. >> a couple weeks ago i talked to a doctor who said you absolutely should use the vaccine. he feels it's safe tore use it than not use it 3. nucle"newsweek" is returnin its roots beginning january or maybe february. the new print version will depend more on subscribers and less on advertisers. and readers will pay more than in the past.

a woman thought to be getting the first ticket for wearing google glass has pleaded not guilty. cecile la abate of san diego is charged with speeding and distracted driving. her defense, she says there's nothing illegal about simply wearing google glass when it's not turned on. but when she looked up at the officer who pulled her over, turns out her glasses were activated. >> it's on. the device is physically on but it's not active in the screen. if i do either this or this, then you can see the screen light up a little. >> abadie is 1 of 10,000 people apparently who have been asked to try out and test the product. apparently the test she was taking part in did not include taking the glasses off. taking them off before you drive. let's take a look at what's coming up on "new day." chris cuomo and kate balolduanb.

we're going take a look at the train derailment. the assumed admission that the engineer nodded off or whatever vernacular you want to use. if that's what it turns out to be, what will be the consequences be? and we'll talk aexperts how this could have been prevented. simple measures put in place going forward. we'll take the questions. plus new video of that car accident that killed actor paul walker showing it took one minute for the car to erupt in flames. so what does this mean for the investigation? we'll be looking at all the latest details on that. also, we have this man, a rabbi. he says all he does is do what you're supposed to do when you're asked to give customer feedback. he did it. the airline said you did it too much. they took away his miles. he said that's wrong. sued them in state court. they said we don't like that. they wound up in federal court, now it's in the supreme court. we're going take you all the way through it. it's a bizarre case but could

have impact on the rest of us. >> take anything but my miles. miles are way too important. >> took his status, took everything. >> even his status. thank you. appreciate it. it's time for the "morning rhyme." these are the best tweets of the day. >> you challenged the viewers, right? >> she writes i used to think jacoby was a handsome man, too bad, now, i won't be a fan. marlena, you're right it that's the exact attitude to take. send them to #morningrhyme. >> what about the yankees fans out there terribly excited about this? whatever. >> please watch more. i like you in some ways but not that bad. 48 minutes past the hour. a three-day losing streak for the red hot dow. is the bull run losing steam? we give you relief from your cold symptoms. you give them the giggles.

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welcome back to "early start." it is 51 minutes past the hour. christine is here. >> good morning, everybody. well, you know, the air officially coming out of the rally. the dow falling 92 points tuesday. the nasdaq, s&p, look, three days in a row down for the dow. index fell 182 points. futures are up this morning. we haven't had a big correction. we haven't had a big correction. three days off the big run this year. i wouldn't worry about it quite yet. attention on the focus and the stimulus, at least what we're blaming this on. we might get a signal if that could be sooner than later. as we get the adp jobs report. some people say it's an indicator of how this november jobs report might be. this adp private sector gauge is coming out in a few hours.

firing at all in november. these numbers were really good. look at that gm, up 14% from a year ago. ford, 7%. chrysler, 16%. >> wow. >> you know incentive spending was the lowest since january. $202500 per average on vehicle. it wasn't a big deal. it's because people want to buy cars and they're feeling more confident. the strong showing powered by black friday promotions. people got in the showroom, traffic surged on black friday. overall cars sold at the brinkest pace in six years. the gm economists on a conference call with auto writers say that a stable jobs market. record stock market, we're going to see good sales into next year. >> you know what i was surprised about i was seeing commercials for black friday on vehicles. how weird is that? >> that was the big deal. april lot of people stayed away from the malls and went to the showrooms. we've got people holding on to their own clunkers for a long

time, since the recession. now they're ready to buy a car. we'll see if that's a signal. now, the poster board for corporate greed is getting out of jail. remember this guyy december kozlowski for stealing money from tyco? the shower curtain. it became the emblem of his corporate greed. and the roman toga party that he threw for his wife that featured an ice sculpture of michelangelo's david. i won't tell what you the david was depicted doing, tyco paid for that too. kozlowski entered jail july 6th an will serve parole. you know what's interesting about this story. it's so precrash, remember we

were worried about corporate greed and using funds. and then the whole world fell apart. >> no $6,000 shower curtains in the slammer, though. christine romans, thank you so much. >> be right back. something to love... so join the loyalty program that lets you earn free nights in any of them. plus, for a limited time, members can win a free night every day. only at hotels.com ♪ you know, ronny... folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. and how happy are they jimmy? i'd say happier than a bodybuilder directing traffic. he does look happy. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

welcome back, everyone. a brooklyn-born rabbi is taking his case to a higher authority. getting a hearing before the supreme court. he's challenging a decision by delta and northwest airlines to drop him from their frequent flier program because he complained too much. >> it wasn't the nature of the

peanuts weres were too salty or they served pepsi products versus coke products. you know, they were legitimate concerns and they were expressed in a very, very polite and cordial way. >> rabbi ginsburg sued for $5 million to research the rights of all frequent fliers to complain. we'll ask him about this case. he joins us on "new day" live at 7:00 a.m. eastern time. "new day" starts right now. he feels terrible. whether it was his fault or not, it was his train. >> asleep at the controls? new details this morning. the lawyer for the train engineer reveals what he says happened just before that deadly derailment as we hear the 911 calls from moments right after the accident. >> the hunt is on. a rare bear attack in florida sets off a massive search to

capture the animal. residents are waking up frightened as we hear the desperate calls just after the attack. >> the real top gun, she's the highest ranking woman at the pentagon ever, get this, she's also the inspiration for tom cruise's girlfriend in "top gun." what's real and what's fiction? >> your "new day" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "new day" with chris cuomo, kate bolduan and michaela pereira. welcome to "new day," it is wednesday, december 4th, 6:00 in the east. we have some breakthroughs in the new york train derailment investigation. officials say no brake problems were found and we've learned the engineer admitted to nodding off moments before the accident. also, an unusual twist. the way that admission came out has now become part of the investigation. cnn's nic robertson is in the bronx this morning. let's start there, nic.